City Quartet, 1953, Oil on canvas, David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park

Audio Description

David Driskell painted City Quartet in 1953. It is an oil on canvas. This work comes from the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland in College Park.

This is a horizontal oil painting on canvas called City Quartet. In front of an angular city backdrop are four children in a huddle. The picture is not detailed but has a thick application of paint, creating a rough texture. The boy on the left is Black, has short hair and appears in profile looking down towards his hands. He is wearing a brown and white sweater and dark pants. Next to him is a taller, light-skinned boy with reddish-brown hair, a stout face, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He is looking straight at the viewer and is clothed in a white collared blue shirt and reddish-brown trousers. Next to him is a light-skinned boy with short brown hair, a strong face, and thick lips. He is wearing a white shirt with green pants. The fourth figure, in profile, is a light-skinned boy with short brown hair, a thin face, and large ears. His shirt is white, and his pants are orange.

Label Copy

David Driskell painted City Quartet in 1953. It is an oil on canvas. This work comes from the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland in College Park.

City Quartet reflects the influence of Jack Levine, with whom Driskell studied at Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, as well as Loïs Mailou Jones, who first encouraged Driskell to experiment with using both paintbrushes and palette knife. Some art historians see the figure on the left as Driskell, whose cityscapes visualize his meditations on his place in the world. At this time, he was a twenty-something art student from Southern Appalachia making his way in urban environments.

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